The invention relates generally to electronic monitoring devices and more particularly to handheld devices that are configured for retrieving and analyzing data from an electronic monitoring device.
Electronic monitoring devices are used in a wide variety of applications to record and monitor various conditions and events. Monitoring conditions such as temperature is important in many industries involving products that are sensitive to specific conditions. In particular, electronic monitoring devices have found increasing use in the food and pharmaceutical industries to record and monitor conditions under which items such as perishable goods have been shipped and/or stored.
Data loggers are portable electronic monitoring devices that can record measurements such as temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, on/off, open/closed, voltage, pressure, and events over time. Typically, data loggers are small, battery-powered devices that are equipped with a microprocessor, data storage and sensor. Data loggers may be programmed to take specific measurements at desired time intervals.
Data loggers may be activated or programmed by connecting them to a computer that can be used to send and retrieve data to and from the data logger. Data loggers can also be activated by manual operation, such as a switch or push button. After the data logger has been activated it is usually positioned or deployed in a desired location for data gathering. The logger records each measurement and stores it in memory. The loggers can typically also record the date and time at which the measurement was taken. At a desired time, the data contained within the data logger is retrieved by reconnecting the data logger to a computer or similar device.
. Some data loggers employ radio frequency identification (RFID) communication protocols to activate, program, and send or retrieve data to and from the data logger. The use of RFID technology in electronic monitoring devices allows the stored data to be quickly retrieved from the devices. For instance, an RFID reader in communication with a computer can be used to activate and retrieve data from a data logger at a various points throughout the distribution system. To retrieve the information, the data logger may be connected to a computer or brought into close proximity with an RFID reader. In some circumstances, it may be desirable to retrieve and analyze information from the data logger at various points throughout the distribution system. Unfortunately, it may not always be convenient to connect the data logger to a computer for data analysis. In other cases, the reader may only be able to retrieve the data and real time analysis may not be available.
Thus, there still exists a need for a low cost device that can be used for real time retrieval and analysis of data from a data logger device.